Spruce Creek Garden Club

In the 1980’s a group of ladies, all with a common interest in gardening, would get together, once a month, and meet at one another’s houses. The ladies would take turns identifying plants; cookies and cake (most important for drawing interest) were served, and the group would plan projects to help keep Spruce Creek looking as beautiful as it does.

As time went on and the community grew, membership in the Club grew, and meetings were moved from the coziness of a private home to a hangar. Cookies and cake, and sometimes “pot luck” luncheons, were served. The goal of the Club was still the same — the beautification of Spruce Creek — but adding things like, sponsorship of a wounded bird of prey and of a manatee. A Garden Club committee planted poinsettias at the front entrance.

Trips were planned (Leu Gardens, Bok Tower, the Ravine Gardens, Cypress Gardens, Winter Park, and boat trips on the rivers and canals); programs began to evolve with speakers on plants and on the environment, and fund raising projects were started.

Another major growth in the membership led to meetings being held in the Tower Room of Spruce Creek Country Club. More fund raising projects began — the first house tour in 1991 and the first Spruce Creek cookbook in 1991 under the guidance of Nancy Tennstedt and her committee. Plant sales were done, one of the first being in the parking lot of the Country Club, in conjunction with an Arts & Crafts Show.

The Spruce Creek Garden/Nature Club still has the same goals; learning a little more about our environment, about plants and nature, and becoming more responsible participants in our world. We do this with monthly meetings and day excursions. Each month good landscaping is recognized by the presentation of a Beautification Award.